A Constitutional Peace
This week, Colombia celebrates the first 25 years of its 1991 Constitution, which is perhaps the most important political development of the last few decades.
Read MorePijao: the “slow” town that is endangered due to mining
Hidden between the mountains of Quindio, there is a small town waging a battle to defend its autonomy and territory. Pijao is a municipality with approximately 6,000 residents. Since a few years ago, it struggles to defend its decision to “not be in a rush”, where quality of life, good food, and nature come first before mining, which threatens to change Pijao’s life style.
Read MoreThe Desired Peace (II)
Following up on my earlier column, I present the other five reasons why I support the “desired peace”, and I explain why I will vote “Yes” in the referendum.
Read MorePlebiscites, Fear and Hope
Plebiscites are risky forms of democratic expression, as Kathleen McNamara wrote in Foreign Affairs, after the British decision to exit the European Union.
Read MoreHappy Pride in Peace
June 28th is a commemoration and holiday at the same time.
Read MoreThe Rapists with Diplomatic Immunity and the Victims without Justice
Almost a decade ago some U.S. military men raped a twelve year old girl in Melgar. The US refuses to investigate the case and Colombia likewise refuses to attend to the victim. Today this girl is a woman and continues searching for justice.
Read MoreDecriminalizing HIV
Criminalization of HIV is an inappropriate measure to address this type of public health problem, and also has negative effects on the rights of those living with HIV.
The Desired Peace
This is the name of the informal group of people who thinks that ending the armed conflict today is the most important ethical cause of Colombia and want to contribute to an informed debate and growing participation in society in this task. Next Tuesday is the public launching of the group and I explain the first five reasons why I make part of this group and will vote yes on the popular vote for peace.
Read MorePromise and Forgiveness
In The Human Condition, Hannah Arendt says that we cannot change the past nor control the future because the past is irreversible and the future is unpredictable.
Read MoreWhy transitional justice also has to do with business
It is clear that peace will bring economic benefits to Colombian society. This conclusion became apparent during several panels at the World Economic Forum on Latin America, which took place in Medellin a week ago. As the forum director, Marisol Argueta, said: similar to the growing investment in agroindustry, infrastructure, and the service sector, the inclusion of isolated territories in productive settings will stimulate the economy.
Read MoreWho is the Drug Pirate?
The president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Raymond Yans, accused Uruguay of piracy for approving home-grown marihuana and its legal, but highly regulated, commercial distribution.
Read MoreClimate Injustice and Social Movements: Latin America’s Chance
César Rodríguez Garavito writes about the failure of the Climate Change World Summit in Warsaw and on the upcoming meeting in Lima in 2014, that may be the last chance to save the Planet from catastrophe.
Read MorePetro’s International Option
Since the day mayor Gustavo Petro´s legal team learned of the Inspector General’s Office’s decision to remove him from office and ban him from holding public office for 15 years, the team began to look North. They set their eyes on Washington, where the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights is located.
Read MoreCoalition Report UN Resolution 1325 on Peace and Democracy in Colombia
Since 2011, Coalition 1325 has drafted a report on UN Security Council´s Resolution 1325 monitoring the implementation of the Resolution in Colombia. This year, given the peace dialogues between the Colombian Government and the FARC-EP, this report is especially important because Resolution 1325 calls upon signatory states to include women in peace processes and post conflict scenarios, and to guarantee the rights of the women victims of armed conflict.
Read MoreEnvironmental Democracy
While the Inspector General ignores the popular vote in Bogotá, in the rest of the country local democracy is flourishing. Last Sunday was Tauremena’s turn (in Casanare), where they voted against petroleum projects that put the municipalities water sources at risk.
Read MoreSeparate and Unequal: Education and Social Class in Colombia
Elementary and high school students live in two separate and unequal worlds, because the quality of the education they receive is very different. What can we do to close this gap?
Read MoreWith Three Articles
It is possible to limit the greater institutional risks of the Inspector General’s Office and the worst personal excesses of Inspector General Ordóñez without changing the Constitution; we just need a short law with three articles.
Read MoreIntimacy in the Digital Age
Don’t let them persuade you that your privacy is worth less on the Internet. The general rule is that everyone has a right to intimacy, an abstract area reserved by the law for oneself, ones friends and family.
Read MoreThe Inspector General’s Short-sightedness
The Inspector General thought that he was playing an ace of diamonds when he removed Petro from office. But this play may lead him to loose the hand.
Read MoreThe Wiwa People and the Ranchería Dam (Documentary)
In the 2005, the INCODER began the construction of the El Cercado Dam on the Ranchería River. The government issued the construction license for the dam violating the right of the indigenous peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta to prior consultation. In this documentary, members of the Wiwa People share how their physic and cultural survival was threatened by the construction and their means of resistance they have developed to challenge the Dam.
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